Preparation and optical nonlinearities of transparent bismuth-based glass ceramics embedded with Bi2O3 microcrystals

Transparent glass ceramics based on Bi2O3–B2O3–TiO2 ternary glass system were prepared by controlled one-step heat treatment method. X-ray diffraction measurement confirms the formation of Bi2O3 phase crystals in glass network. Z-scan measurements at a wavelength of 750 nm were employed to investigate the third-order optical nonlinearities of these transparent glass ceramics. The results show that the nonlinear properties were significantly enhanced after crystallization process.